Rotating the screen orientation of your laptop can be useful when working on a lengthy spreadsheet or while playing certain types of games. While a landscape orientation of screen works well for most purposes, the same can be tricky if you need more access to the content at once on-screen; in that case, you really require portrait orientation.

In this article, we will discuss ways in which you can easily rotate your Macbook screen. While you can rotate the display of few Macbook monitors with the in-built rotation feature, you might not have the same function in other models of MacBook. For those who still want to rotate the screen, we have a workaround for it which has also been discussed at the end of the article.

How to rotate screen on MacBook

Not all MacBook support screen rotation. To know if your MacBook supports built-in rotating screen, follow the step below and use that feature to rotate your Mac screen.

Step 1: Hover over and click on the small Apple icon on the top-left corner of your Mac screen.

Step 2: Click on System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Click on Displays. You will most probably find it in the second row of options.

Step 4: If your Macbook supports built-in screen rotation, you will find an option called Rotation in the Display tab itself. If so, you can choose the degree of screen rotation — 90, 180 and 270 — listed in the drop-down menu.

Step 5: Once you choose your degree of rotation, the screen will instantly flip, and a pop-up menu will ask you to Confirm the action or Revert to the original screen. Click on Confirm if you would like to keep the changes, else select Revert.

Please note that once you rotate your screen, your mouse controls will also flip. For example, if you rotate your screen 180 degrees, the mouse controls will be reversed.

Also read: How to create a QR code?

How to rotate the screen when ‘Rotation’ option doesn’t appear in the menu

If your Macbook doesn’t support screen rotation, you can still rotate the display via a hidden setting. However, we do not recommend using this method as it might cause errors or glitches. Still, if you really must rotate your Mac screen, follow the steps below.

Step 1:  Open System Preferences by clicking on Apple icon on the top-left corner of your Mac screen.

Step 2: Press and hold the Option/Alt and Command key simultaneously on the keyboard while clicking on the Display option located in the second row of the system preferences window.

Step 3: Once the display options window is open, release the keys. You can now see the Rotation option under the Display tab. Click on it to view further options.

Step 4: Choose the degree of rotation from the drop-down menu as per your liking. The screen will flip as soon as you choose one of the options- 90, 180, 270 degrees.

Step 5: A pop-up window will appear to confirm the action, click on Confirm if you’re satisfied with the new display. If not, click on Revert to go back to the drop-down menu and select another option.

Also read: How do Touch Screens work? 4 types of touch screens explained